Forbidden Passion

Chapter 7- The Party

Liz POV

He looked up at me with a broken expression, not even reacting to what I said. If I was going to be honest with myself, I was relieved that Sophie rejected him. She came across as a pampered narcissist who would run all over someone as nice as Ash.

“I don’t want your pity,” Ash said in a raspy voice.

Tch, I snorted and got up on the balcony rail and lithely jumped down to his balcony, my red and black dress billowing behind me in the breeze. I landed on the rail right next to him, purposely keeping the higher ground.

“You don’t even recognize me, do you?” I asked clasping my hands behind my back and leaning over his upturned face playfully. My hair fell over my shoulder and smacked him in the face.

He looked completely unamused and suddenly his eyes blazed, causing me to back away at abrupt the sense of danger.

“You saw what happened, and you’re MOCKING ME?!” He roared at me, turning on his heel and storming toward the doors.

“Ashton, wait,” Emily begged with tears streaming down her face. He side-stepped her touch and glared at her as he headed toward the door.

“Nobody’s mocking you. I’m dead serious,” I called to him. “Maybe you’ll recognize me if I remove my mask.”

He did stop in his tracks. I walked the rails to where they connected to the building and hopped down. I don’t know why, but I wanted to try and be as mysterious and seductive as possible, especially after watching that bimbo interact with him.

“I’m not interested in you or who you are. I just got REJECTED by my mate. You think I’m in the mood to have a lively conversation?!” He didn’t speak loud, but his tone held finality. This was not up for discussion.

Still, I reached up and removed my mask. Emily gasped. I guess my mask did a better job of concealing my identity than I thought.

“Fine with me, but at least don’t leave here like this. Show that girl that she didn’t hurt you. Leave with a lady on your arm.”

He finally turned and looked at me. "LIZ?" He gaped. Despite the happenings of the evening, his eyes raked over me, taking me in, and I felt my stomach do a little flip under his scrutiny.

"Hi, Ash. It's really good to see you again," I told him warmly. I smiled brightly at him, hoping that maybe I could dispel some of his gloom with a little sunshine.

"Yeah. It's good to see you again. This isn't really a good time..."

"Ash, I know you've just been deeply hurt, but don't leave your own party with your tail between your legs. You're the son of an Alpha and a force to be reckoned with! Show them that not even a rejection can make you weak."

The corners of his mouth twitched as he considered my words.

“Fine, but only to have some dignity. Don’t get the wrong idea,” he warned. Then he offered me his arm, which I glided over and took, patting it warmly with my other hand.

“This is your party. Hold your head high.”

He snorted at my attempt to encourage him and led me through the main hall. His face was now unmasked, and people who noticed him stopped and openly stared.

Good grief. Is this what he’s gone through since that attack? No wonder he’s a broken soul. He was leading us straight for the exit as quickly as possibly without outright dragging me, trying his best to keep his expression neutral as people gawked at him.

We had just reached the door when a drunk guy stumbled over to him and grabbed his other arm.

“Heeeeey, bro,” the guy drawled. “Looks like you caught a real beauty! What’s she doing with you?! Hahaha!”

“Drop it, Aiden,” Ashton growled at him. Aiden? I hadn’t see him since I arrived. I leaned around Ashton to get a good look at him.

“Woah, dude. She is hot. For real, man.” Aiden sized me up appreciatively, making me feel uncomfortable.

“We’re leaving now. Go find someone else to bother,” Ashton snarled.

“Is she your mate?” Aiden asked, leering at me now and fixing his eyes on my cleavage. I shrunk back against Ashton. This was not part of the plan I had.

“No.” Ashton said simply and started to lead me out the door, but Aiden stepped forward and grabbed his arm again.

“Hey, when you’re done banging her, send her down to my room. She’s got some seriously nice t**s I want to play with.”

Ashton didn’t even respond. He dropped his arm, pushed me behind him, turned on his brother, and punched him across the jaw.

Screams broke out as Aiden fell backward and sprawled out on the floor unconscious.

“That’s the future Alpha that guy hit!”

“Someone help that guy!”

“What happened?”

“Who’s the ugly dude?”

Voices swarmed all around us. Ashton was being surrounded by people ready to fight him. He covered his ears from their insults and backed up, colliding with me. I was hemmed in as well.

“C’mon, tough guy. How about I give you some more scars?” A rough-looking guy in his mid-20’s was rolling up his sleeves for a fight. Ashton was not in the right mind space for this. Like a trapped animal, I could tell he was about to go wild on them.

“That’s enough!” Barked a thunderous Alpha voice. Alpha Josiah stormed in with Luna Emily hot on his heels. “Nobody challenges my sons to a fight in my territory!” He growled.

The rough guy smirked at Ashton, thinking Alpha Josiah was only referring to Aiden, but Josiah walked right up to the man, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him into the crowd, eliciting some cries of surprise.

“What the —“ the man yelled, but Alpha Josiah cut him off.

“This is my second son, Ashton. A quarrel between brothers is nobody’s business. Party’s over. Everyone pack up and leave!” He commanded coldly.

Everyone stood around bewildered, but then the grumbling and protests started.

“We flew here from Canada…”

“Drove in from Florida…”

“Came all the way here from California…”

“Can’t just kick us out of the pack! Where will we stay?”

The crowd pressed in on Alpha Josiah angrily. It was at that moment that my father emerged from his place of obscurity and assumed a fighting stance, flashing his fangs at the crowd.

"A vampire?!" Came cries of surprise and fear.

My mother nimbly pranced to his side. She gave the wolves closest to them a warning look before conjuring a fireball in her hand and holding it up threateningly with a come-and-get-it hand gesture. I have to admit, my parents look pretty awesome together.

Ashton stood near me numbly, still covering his ears, looking frozen in time. I edged closer to him and took his arm, pulling his hand off his ear and grasping it tightly. I tugged at him and, with a lot of effort, began to drag him toward the exit.

All attention was on Alpha Josiah and Luna Emily who were both trying to deal with the angry crowd. Nobody was paying any attention to the son sitting up and favoring his jaw or the son being dragged to the exit.

I managed to get Ashton out of the room, but he was one heavy lug.

“C’mon! You have legs! Use them!” I fussed. He acted like he didn’t hear me, and I groaned and gave his arm a tug with my full strength. To my surprise, I got some momentum from him, but it wasn’t the kind I wanted. He was off-balance and falling, right into me!

“Oof,” I huffed as we landed together in the hall, him on top of me at an awkward angle.

“I…I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized.

“Shut up and get OFF! You’re insanely heavy!”

He quickly jumped back into a squatting position and offered his hand to help me sit up.

“Oi, what are you made of? Metal?” I asked, kneading my chest where his forehead smacked into me.

“I work out.”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure you’re made of titanium or something. I feel like I just got run over by a train.” He stood up and helped me to my feet. Luckily everyone was absorbed with what was going on in the main hall, and our little tumble went either ignored or unnoticed.

Ashton looked around and pulled me down the hall, opening a side door, and exiting the building into a small garden area.

He walked very slowly, seeming deep in thought. My sympathy for him was quickly turning into irritation. I know it was a crazy night for him, but did he have to walk so SLOW?! He trudged along, and I finally spotted a bench and walked over to it to sit down and wait an hour for him to take the ten steps to join me.

He snapped out of whatever funk he was in and strode over to me and sat down next to me.

"Liz, it's good to see you again," he said in his deep voice.

"It's good to see you, too. You look really good all spiffied up. The last time I saw you you were bandaged up in the hospital bed."

"Yeah. About that. I'm sorry. That I scared you. Back then," he sighed and leaned forward, putting his face in his hands, something that I have noticed is a habit for him.

"Ash, you don't have to cover your face around me. Back then I wasn't scared of your face. I didn't even see it, actually. I was terrified of whatever it was that attacked you. You were always strong and a good fighter and smart. If someone like you could be attacked like that, what chance did I stand in the world?" Ash had dropped his hands to his lap, but he still wouldn't look at me. I reached over and touched his hand and gave it a little squeeze. "I started training with my dad after I came home after seeing you. I trained as a vampire first. Then I trained as a werewolf with my mom. Lastly I trained with Adiel and Huallpa as a witch. I'm a pretty good fighter now. Maybe even as good as you."

"Huff. Hahaha!" Ashton started laughing. What I said wasn't funny. What was he laughing about?

"What..."

"Hahaha! Sorry! You think I'm a better fighter than a three-way hybrid? I might have brute strength, but you could probably take me out without even blinking." He finally looked at me, and even though he was still smiling, it didn't reach his eyes.

Sighing, I reached out and brushed his bangs up his forehead. His laughter died as he sat and watched me touch him.

"You don't have to do this. I'm not worth you throwing away your life," solemnly he pushed my hand away from him and averted his eyes again.

"I said I'd give you a chance, not that I'd drop everything and marry you. I'm not old enough yet anyway. For a couple of weeks, at least. That doesn't mean we can't hang out together like we used to. Actually, it might be fun to train together. I'm sure I have some tricks up my sleeve that could help you out," I wiggled my eyebrows at him, and he snorted.

"I guess it would be nice to have a friend again. It's been awhile since I've had anyone to talk to besides Brevin."

"Brevin? Who's Brevin?"

"Oh, yeah. It's been so long that I forgot you haven't met Brevin. He's my wolf. He's a bit of a softie, but he keeps me good company."

I nodded. He spoke about Brevin affectionately. I'm glad he has had Brevin to talk to all these years.

"I'd like to meet Brevin. I'll introduce you to Sheba. She's my beast. Like my dad has Desmonte. I didn't inherit a wolf. I guess because I'm more vampire than wolf." Ashton raised his head abruptly, taking me by surprise. He grabbed my shoulders earnestly then and looked me in the eyes.

"Do vampires have mates?" He asked urgently.

"Um. What?" I blinked a couple of times. His face was really close to mine.

"Do vampires have mates? Like wolves?" He repeated.

"Oh. No. Sheba won't acknowledge anyone as her mate like a wolf does. Plus, my mom rejected her mate and has never regretted it. Once she accepted my dad, it's like her other mate didn't exist." I tried to encourage him.

He set his mouth and nodded. I smiled brightly at him.

"Actually, for what it's worth, I like the way your mouth droops. It's sexy. And your scars make you look ferocious and dangerous. Maybe that's the reason people stay away from you. You do look pretty dangerous."

"Sexy? Dangerous?" He asked, blinking at me with a befuddled expression.

I took his hand in mine and stood up. He followed my movements and let me take his arm for a moonlit stroll around the garden.

Don't worry, Ash, I thought. You'll see yourself for who you truly are in time.